Important Blog Posts

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Zordon Era: Plot vs Unnecessary Filler

I think the way people view the Zordon Era has a lot to do with it's equal number of plot related episodes and unnecessary filler episodes.

A lot of people praise the Zordon Era for it's plot related episodes and it's strong character development episodes. Saying that the majority of them is what truly makes the Zordon Era story one of the best (if not THE best). Also, these episodes tend to usually be the eps that the fans actually bother to re-watch. They are:

MMPRS1 (24/60)

1. Day of the Dumpster (First episode to start the story)
2. High Five (introduced the popular communicators. Also, fans love this ep for Billy and Trini's good character development.)
3. Teamwork (introduces the team's weapons)
6. Food Fight (It's a filler ep. But is quite popular amongst fans due to the popular monster of the week, Pudgy Pig.)
10. Power Ranger Punks (another popular episode, based off of ep 26 of Zyuranger. Like Dan and Mei, Billy and Kimberly also become gangster tough. xD )
11. Peace, Love and Woe (another popular ep that gave Billy a lot of development.)
12. Foul Play in the Sky (introduces Zack's love interest, Angela. Despite the ep not focusing on the relationship, the fact that we're introduced to it, makes this ep a must see for many fans.)
17.-21. Green with Evil (debatably the most popular story arc of MMPR)
25. Life's a Masquerade (Starts the Super Putty Arc)
26. Gung Ho! (Finishes the Super Putty Arc. Introduces Titanus. And is best remembered for Jason's and Tommy's intense rivalry and teamwork.)
28-29. Island of Illusion (introduces Lokar. Also the first time an Ultrazord is used.)
34-35. The Green Candle
39.-40. Doomsday
49.-50. Return of an Old Friend
59. Mighty Morphin' Mutants (A popular ep featuring an evil team of Rangers via Zyu2 footage.)
60. An Oyster Stew (Zack gets to try on the Dragon Shield. The last ep with Angela.)

MMPRS2 (24/52)

1.-3. The Mutiny
11. The Song of Guitardo (a popular ep that shows great character development. Fans also remember Kimberly singing with her guitar.)
12.-13. Green No More
15. Missing Green (A popular ep that showed good development for Jason.)
16. Beauty and the Beast (Best remembered by fans for Kimberly pretending to be Rita.)
17.-18. White Light
22.-24. The Ninja Encounter (Introduces Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.)
27.-28. The Power Transfer (Mixed among fans. But fans still say these eps are a must see.)
32. Mirror of Regret (Introduces the Power Cannon. Adam is given good development in this ep.)
41.-43. The Wedding
44.-46. Return of the Green Ranger
51.-52. Wild West Rangers

MMPRS3 (34/43)

1.-3. A Friend in Need (Actually, this arc is despised by many. But many fans take a look at it, just out of curiosity.)
4.-7. Ninja Quest
14. Final Face-off (Titanus returns, since Mighty Morphin' Mutants. Ninja Ultrazord is used.)
16.-17. A Ranger Catastrophe (introduces Kat)
18.-20. Changing of the Zords
21. Follow that Cab! (introduces the Shark Cycles)
22.-24. A Different Shade of Pink
25. Rita's Pita (This was one of two major eps that gave a bad impression on Kat to fans.)
26. Another Brick in the Wall (The second of two major eps that gave a bad impression on Kat to fans.)
28.-30. Master Vile and the Metallic Armor
32. The Sound of Discordia (Titanus' final appearance. Shogun Ultrazord is used.)
33. Rangers in Reverse
34.-43. Alien Rangers mini-series

Zeo(34/50)

1.-2. A Zeo Beginning
3. The Shooting Star (Introduces the Zeozords and Tanya's boyfriend Shawn.)
4. Target Rangers (Introduces the Zeo Megazord's Zeo Battle Helmets. Rocky gets some development, with his love interest, Jennifer.)
6. Rangers in the Outfield (Tanya breaks up with Shawn.)
7. Every Dog has his Day (A popular ep that showed good development for Kat.)
10. Graduation Blues (Billy graduates and leaves to Aquitar.)
12. Instrument of Destruction (A popular ep that developes Skull and Adam.)
13. Mean Screen (Billy plans to return.)
14. Mr. Billy's Wild Ride (Billy returns.)
15.-17. There's No Business Like Snow Business (Famous for Kimberly sending Tommy the Dear John Letter.)
18. Inner Spirit (David, Tommy's brother is introduced. Red Battlezord is introduced.)
19. Challenges (Continues Tommy's arc.)
20. Found and Lost (Continue's Tommy's arc.)
21. Brother, can you Spare an Arrowhead? (Concludes the Tommy/David Arc.)
25. Song Sung Yellow (Tanya is given a chance to become a singer. A well liked ep amongst fans for her development.)
27. A Season to Remember (Remembered by fans for the scene where an elderly Tommy is married to an elderly Kat. Debated amongst fans whether it's canon or not.)
28. The Power of Gold
33. Revelations of Gold
34. A Golden Homecoming
35. Mondo's Last Stand
36. Bomber In The Summer
38. The Lore of Auric
40. The Joke's on Blue (Gasket and Archerina are introduced. Louie Kaboom is destroyed.)
41. Where in the World is Zeo Ranger 5? (Tommy gets abducted)
42.-43. King for a Day
46. Another Song and Dance (A popular ep with Tommy and Tanya singing. xD )
47.-48. Rangers of Two Worlds (Zeo and Alien team up. Billy leaves to Aquitar.)
49. Hawaii Zeo (Last appearance of Gasket and Archerina.)
50. Good as Gold

Turbo (19/45)

1.-3. Shift into Turbo
4. Shadow Rangers (Considered to be one of the better eps during the first half of this season by fans.)
10. Weight and See (Considered to be one of the better eps due to Kat's development.)
13. The Millennium Message
14. A Drive to Win (Carlos and Ashley are introduced.)
18.-19. Passing the Torch (Disliked by many fans. But still considered a must see.)
21. The Wheel of Fate (Introduces the Lightning Cruiser and the Storm Blaster.)
22. Trouble by the Slice (The famous pizza episode. xD )
23. The Phantom Phenomenon (Phantom Ranger is introduced.)
26. The Darkest Day (General Havoc is introduced.)
27. One Last Hope (Rescue Zords and Artillatron introduced.)
28. The Fall of the Phantom (First appearance of the Rescue Megazord combo.)
29. Clash of the Megazords (Havoc and the Phantom Ranger both return home.)
43. Parts and Parcel (Shows great development between Bulk and Skull and the Rangers.)
44.-45. Chase into Space

Now, looking at the first five seasons of the Zordon era, there's a pretty good amount of eps that fans love. However, what fans do not like about the Zordon era is the fact that there's just as many unnecessary filler eps in the seasons (most notable in MMPR S1, S2, and Turbo). Many that are quite average or below average and don't really show much development. As a result, many fans tend to find it a chore to have to watch every single episode from the first five seasons. In fact, many fans tend to create similar lists as I just did right now, and just choose to ignore all the other unnecessary filler eps. I did not list In Space, due to how that season was the first to be more serialized. Thus, fans tend to watch and enjoy almost every ep from that season.

3 comments:

Just want to say,good post! I just skipped though most episodes of the Zordon Era. Watched more of the beginning and end of each season. To get the over head story. I'm going to have to kick back one day and go through all of them. I wish that continuity was there still. Beyond Space I'm lost.